


The Fate of Napoleon

by Boomskyfox



Category: Napoleonic Era RPF, Original Work
Genre: Alternate History, Board Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27053749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boomskyfox/pseuds/Boomskyfox
Summary: The armies of Napoleon are marching once again. Individually, the Coalition nations are outnumbered, but combined, they can take the fight to Napoleon. Read on as the United Kingdom, Austria, and Russia make their stand against massive French invasions.
Kudos: 1





	The Fate of Napoleon

**Author's Note:**

> A short work based on a game of "Napoleon in Europe."

Napoleon was no longer the great general that he had once been. His initial military victories had become abject failures. The coalition could not be stopped; they wanted his head. It had started great, but his ambition doomed his armies. After repelling the Russian invasion of Provence, he sent a force to St. Petersburg and made great progress, at least at first. He achieved a third victory against the Russian army at Novgorod. His cavalry and artillery smashed the hastily assembled Russian infantry. With his eyes set on Moscow, he gave the order. Russian soldiers put up a desperate defense and ended his dreams of a French-controlled Russia. His Russian Expedition was crippled. The surviving Russians chased down and slaughtered the remaining French troops, the artillery crews, at Minsk-Smolensk.

Napoleon soon turned his eyes to Great Britain. If he could conquer the smaller nation, he reasoned, then he could redeploy his armies to the East and annihilate the Russian and Austrian hordes. He devised a cunning plan: invade the island nation through Ireland, far out of reach from the main British army. It would have gone without a hitch, had the Irish Guard not been a formidable force. Alas, the vastly outnumbered guardsmen stood firm and pushed the Frenchmen back into the sea. More French cavalry and cannons had failed to overwhelm Coalition infantry. As with his previous expedition, all forces were lost. His military might was shrinking after each pitiful attempt.

His final hope to break the coalition was eliminating the sizable Austrian army. He had already lost two marshals, one in each of the naval invasions. Mustering his infantry alongside the remaining cavalry under his final marshal, he set his sights on Austria. Avoiding a major battle, his army swept through the Austrian countryside at Bohemia and destroyed the resident infantry regiment. Angered at this violation of their territory, the Austrians set forth from Vienna and occupied Bavaria. Bohemia had been a trap. The French were caught off-guard and had no choice but to fight. A pitched battle saw the defeat of the entire French army, signaling the end of any attempts at true French expansion. During the battle, the sheer firepower brought to the field by the Austrian artillery wiped out entire regiments. The Austrians followed this battle up by beginning their march towards Paris.

Crushed, Napoleon began to rebuild his army using all available resources. The King of Artillery was left with infantry and cavalry, having lost all of his artillery in invasions. He consolidated most of his forces in Paris, sending an expeditionary force to Spain. They faced no resistance and soon enter Madrid. Napoleon concentrates most of his cavalry in the countryside surrounding Paris in an attempt at scaring away the Coalition. The Coalition, however, was not idle during this time. They, too, bolstered their militaries and made plans for the final push against France. Napoleon was losing faith, as was his army. His ever shrinking army consisted of green troops. He had no veterans; all men were killed in the campaigns where they had gained their experience. The demoralized troops sulked in France while their comrades held Spain in the name of France.

Meanwhile, Russians made two more landings. One landing was another attempt at taking Provence from the French, and the other was a landing in Andalusia, Spain. The cavalry rested in the beautiful French countryside at Provence, while the larger force suffered under the Spanish sun. Napoleon quickly ordered a withdrawal from Spain. A regiment was left in Madrid as a last-ditch defense while the rest of the army retreated to the border. The fresh Russian Army brushed the garrison aside and took control of Madrid and other nearby territories, including Gibraltar. The retreating French cavalry made their way back into France, only to be ambushed by Russian cavalry at Gascony. Despite leading the first charge, the Frenchmen were cut down by the foreign invaders. Additional Russian infantry landed in Provence, while the main army joined the cavalry in Gascony.

Intent on fighting the French on their own terms, the British land and take up positions in Brittany and Belgium. The countryside cavalry had been waiting for landings such as these. They descend upon the British forces. During the ensuing skirmishes, however, the French do not fare well. Despite some casualties – amounting to over half of the Artillery Corps and a number of cavalry regiments, the British reign victorious. Fresh Austrians join the main Austrian army in Switzerland. The equally fresh Russian infantry stayed in nearby Provence. The entire Coalition waited for Napoleon to make the first move.

Divide and conquer was an unlikely tactic to be used in this situation, but Napoleon insisted on its capabilities. He planned to sally his troops into the neighboring province of Burgundy and destroy the Austrian and Russian armies. Every nation was losing the support of their people. Even though the French defeat loomed over the horizon, a major defeat could force a withdrawal. The plan was simple: collapse the Coalition by signing a truce with Austria and Russia. They would only accept if they were suffering, so he needed to create panic by defeating them one and for all.

Seeing the French army moved out of Paris, the Austrians and Russians seize their moment. The twelve fresh Russian regiments in Provence converged on the French, as did the massive Austrian army. The situation was bleak: defeat the French or allow Napoleon to expand once again. The three nations took to an open field in Burgundy. The allied infantry mixed together, with a select few Austrian units, including ones with experience, intermingling with the green Russians. Cannons gleamed in rows behind the seemingly endless lines of infantry. Behind the cannons stood the majestic Austrian cavalry, including the three marshals of the army. On the other side, the young French infantry are under the command of their emperor, Napoleon.

The Coalition mustered twenty-nine thousand infantry, five thousand artillerymen, and four thousand cavalry, plus their three Austrian marshals. Napoleon had gathered a mere twenty thousand men. They gave the first volley, four thousand Austrians were killed. The Coalition returned fire with the full force of their army. Napoleons army shrank to just eight thousand. Their next volley was scattered and the casualties are negligible. Coalition fire raked the French forces. One thousand soldiers remained standing. Broken, Napoleon gave the order to retreat. All remaining Frenchmen, including Napoleon, were killed during the retreat.

A temporary government was created in Paris and negotiated a peace deal with the Coalition. The king would be put back in power, and France would not expand past its pre-Napoleon borders. The army was also limited, gone were the days of the French giant. France would never become an empire, and the history of the world was forever changed due to the actions of one man named Napoleon Bonaparte.


End file.
